Kia Ora

Of course I couldn't stay away... Crikey dick, but I've missed being here.

Now that life has settled back down and I've got the hang of being a power suited city slicker it's time to softly shake the creative brain cell that has been slumbering these last few months.

The new job has changed me a little that's for sure. I'm busier, stressed and in bed by 9.30pm most nights; on the plus side I have a fabulous wardobe and I've fallen in love with the city I work in. I'm learning to deal with the stress and running for the bus in heels is a breeze, but the real difference is my newly found reverence for all that the weekend brings. Whether it's a bustling Saturday market or a rainy Sunday curled up with a book it's all about the weekend baby!



I've puttered around a craft fair, walked on the beach, lunched with a friend and spring cleaned the daughter's first flat. I made a salad so sexy it curled my toes, planted the first tomatoes of the season and drank one too many Corona's. Add to this seven loads of washing, three Op shops and a sunburnt nose... two very happy days.


Mozzarella and tomato salad



Now Monday morning beckons. The house is tidy, the family is fed and tomorrow's outfit is hanging on the wardrobe door. Time for bed x



High Heel Heaven

So a whole week has passed... a whole week of heels, coffee to go and early morning bus rides, I love it! I skip along Queen St to my new theme tune. Guess, go on have a guess... can you guess what it is?

'Working 9 to 5' of course. I tried Sheena Easton's version but the train bit put me off so it's all about the divine Miss Dolly.
In my new high powered, big hair and shoulder pads role I've noticed that there is definitely an odd power attached to a high heel...
On my 3" black leather boot days I'm really rather assertive, slapping my thigh and booming "Thank you Driver" as I stride from the bus. In my strappy red stiletto's I'm very Barbara Windsor, all giggles and eyelash fluttering and it's only a matter of time until my bra pings off! My favourite day so far has been my shiny Flamenco shoes. I stand infront of the microwave whilst my soup warms up and I tap my heels very fast and swish my skirt... awesome!

Today's little beauties are not the most comfortable footwear I grant you, but did you spot the bright pink soles. Worth every bunion!

Thinking about things to do on the bus...

1) Knitting...



organic cotton dish cloths



One for all, and all for one!

John Lennon said, ‘Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans’. What a properly, clever bloke!

Whilst I’ve been focusing hard on little clumps of time, the atmosphere has been filling with all sorts of big stuff and last weekend the heavens opened!
I’d only just got my head around a 4 day job fix when I got a bloomin’ offer. Unbelievably, blogging helped the interview process as the position is within IT and my new boss needs someone who can feel her way around a web page. It’s a fantastically exciting, challenging and frankly, a pant wetting career move. It’s also full time, in the city and requires high heels, posh frocks and make up…YIKES!
This should be enough, shouldn’t it? I thought so; however the same inbox that held the job offer also threw out an invitation to appear in a new British craft magazine… I KNOW!

A rather lovely lady spotted a photo of my shelves and has asked to put it in Mollie Makes. How cool is that… of course there’s a very good chance that it’ll hit the cutting room floor, but Crikey Dick, I am seriously flattered. The upshot of all this is I’m coming home and will be posting in the Beach Hut once again as my 4 day fixes have proved so successful that I won’t have a great deal of time to blog about them daily. I’m amalgamating. I’m still changing, but perhaps a little more slowly as I’m a bit of a whirly gig at present.

Here's a sneaky peek...!



beach hut kitchen



A tornado... oh come on!

I have been feeling rather unsettled of late... hence the lack of posts and photo's. There's no rhyme or reason for this general malaise, just an antsy feeling in the pit of my stomach that won't go away.

The events of yesterday afternoon however have put paid to any self indulgent naval gazing... I got up close and personal with a freakin' tornado! I ran out of the Mall to what can only be described as scenes of carnage. Corrugated iron roofing was whipping through the air whilst trees were uprooted and cars flew. An enormous column of angry black cloud roared furiously before moving off over the rooftops.

When you walk away unscathed from something of that magnitude, when so many others didn't, it's time to start celebrating the positive and ignoring that antsy.

Time to start smiling...

luckily he never reads the blog...

Happy Birthday darling...

... otherwise he would be less than pleased. However, ignorance is bliss so here's a picture of my first mate, bait boy and kingfish catcher...

Happy Birthday to the Great Alphonso... just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water!

Mag 59

There once was a woman called Lisa
An advert for female alopecia
With a smile barely there
and distinct lack of hair
who can blame that poor moany creature




Linking up to Magpie Tales

Cafe society

Half the fun of discovering a new favourite place is sharing it with someone else. As we drive through midday traffic I'm hopeful that Lorraine will enjoy 'Little & Friday' as much as I do.

She does!

This gorgeous little bakery/cafe is owned by Kim Evans and her philosophy of baking to make people feel good is working. Local customers donate cutlery, cups and saucers, and even teapots to the cafe, because they feel so much a part of what Kim is doing.

We devour our tea and cakes before racing home. Driving fast is a must when your car has no roof and rain clouds threaten to drop their load at any minute.

all photo's courtesy of Little & Friday.

Swellington

We're back after a jam packed two days...

shopping, walking, cafe's, champagne, vintage, jewels, one award winning restaurant and a huge amount of laughing... to coin a phrase "we lived like queens!"

Happy Birthday Darling... next stop Melbourne!

T.T.F.N.

I'm packing for an overnight trip to Wellington... there are op shops and vintage emporiums who are closing up for the evening still blissfully unaware that I have them in my sights!

Lily and I are doing the girlie/ shopping/ retauranting thing to celebrate her 20th... which means I have a daughter of 20, WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN!!!

I'll be back with photo evidence soon, until then I leave you with Alfie and me riding the waves on Nana. My 13 year old had his first driving lesson... we ran aground, we laughed our heads off, I swallowed rather a lot of water when Alf went into forward gear rather than neutral and took off towards open sea with me hanging on for dear life, he laughed his head off... a jolly good time was had by all.

More ways with old patterns

I feel sorry for Dolly. Her biscuit beige exterior belies her smoking personality.
I tear and glue those trusty old paper patterns and suddenly Dolly starts walking tall. I take her out, first time this year. She poses for the camera; I may need all my powers of persuasion to get her dressed for work.
See Dolly modeling the new Vintage Tickle collection soon…

Little Britain, big bum...

I'm pondering. Fancy Vintage has asked me to reveal 8 hidden things.

"Slap...Slap!"

"What, I'm in the kitchen"

"Tell me something I do that no-one else knows about..."
.
.
.
"SLAP!"

"I'm thinking...... when you wear your Ann, eh, eh, eh, nightie and you think the kids can't see you, you flash your bottom at me"

He's still talking but I'm not listening anymore... I resolve not to ask him anymore open ended questions, he can't be trusted!

Thank you Miss Fancy, sending blog love back at you!

Tattoo me silly...

I'm sitting at the computer, bottom lip trembling. My beautiful, arty-farty friend has just posted photo's of the henna party I was too sick to attend.
Does this happen to you too?
The prettiest party in town takes place the one day a year I'm poorly. I'm sharing the pictures... we can sigh together.

My email box is pinging, somebody wants to get friendly on Facebook. I have only just started using this properly. I've had an account for ages but I use it to play farms; it's a lot less sweaty than gardening.
Now I've made a page where I can celebrate my lack of an inner monologue.



If you're a lover of beautiful crockery then please pay a visit to the delightful Fancy Vintage blog. This is a woman who knows how to drink her tea... from a golden teapot no less!

My happy place...

I've been thinking about blogging; pictures of op shop treasures, tasty dinners and boat trips seem silly and careless after the events of the last week but these things are me. They're not important, I know that, but they are the things that make the hurdles seem smaller. Planet Blog is my happy place, a cheap, friendly, comfy world that I always look forward to visiting.

I received a text on Friday evening, asking if I was keen to 'rumble in the jumble'; I smiled all through dinner.
As a self-proclaimed junkaholic, nothing excites me more than a morning spent bumping elbows with fellow treasure hunters... and man, we are one motley crew.

Jostling their way to the front of every queue are the stern looking dealers. Behind them, tiny asian ladies grip their enormous carrier bags and bewildered bedheads mill around the edges. Island families show up early with deck chairs, picnic baskets and taupaulins in case of rain; now that's how you work a queue.
A sunny yellow lid peeks through a box of old jam jars and the 7am start this morning is suddenly worth it. After a good scrub this cast iron pot will be cooking up a ratouille storm; along with lemon, garlic and thyme lamb chops hot off the barbie with ciabatta for dunking, sounds like dinner.

On the way home I stop at the Farmers Market where nectarines, plums, sweetcorn and avocado's are piled high. This is a chi chi part of town where the crowd are more yoga pants than gumboots but the prices are low and the produce is as fresh as it comes. No one even notices my bad hair day...

I take the beach road home. A calm sea could tempt me away from weekend chores but wind and white tops mean mopped floors and a full washing line.

Let's hope the fish are still biting tomorrow...

a bargain butterfly

Are you a goldy or a silvery?
I've always been a silvery lover, in fact I don't think I own any yellow jewellery at all, even my wedding ring is white gold...
UNTIL NOW!

This little bit of lovely was only $2 from the local charity treasure trove; it literally fluttered from under the counter glass and landed on my chest, and there it has stayed.

Even more importantly, taking a photo from this angle allows you to seek and destroy any of those bizarrely lengthy facial hairs that sprout when you're forty.

Come on admit it... you know what I'm talking about!

Edit: Yikes, I feel like I'm advertising under false pretences!
Thank you for your birthday wishes but actually it's not my birthday yet, in fact my next birthday will see me closer to mid forties than early.
Having said that I have just bought myself the most incredible present (obviously not for my birthday, please see above).
Here's a clue...
she's a Beauty, and I'm hOpelessly in love, i've called her nAna and slap isn't Talking to me because i used the electric money....
Good times, x

the love boat...

I'm in love, I'm in love, i'm in love;



If she were mine I'd call her 'flaming nora', I'd polish her and clean her and I'd eat all my broccoli for the next year at least, pleeeeeease!

Edit: Looked amazing on paper, unfortunately didn't match up in the flesh, so to speak... the hunt continues.

summer lovin', had me a blast...

beaches and boats, fishing and falling over, shell rings and singing, murder in the dark and mussels, friends and family, tent pegs and tentacles, love and laughter...

how was your holiday!

x

a very happy kiwi christmas

Wishing you all an amazing Christmas and an outstanding New Year!

I'll be back mid January with reams of words and photo's I'm sure... bring on Summer!

Enjoy these delightful kiwi kids doing it down under style! I'm off to add 'star outfit' to my Santa wish list...

the office christmas party...

Everyday I try and take stock. Our move to the other side of the world was an impetuous one, it turns out though that New Zealand was spontaneity at it's very, very best.

If you asked me to describe my slice of heaven, then a day's fishing would place highly and this years office celebration was a perfect end to the year. Looking at the photo above I've noticed that as well as fishing, cards, halves of Guiness and horse racing I'm also rather partial to an old boy's cardi...

Oh well, at least I haven't succumbed to lawn bowls, grey plastic shoes and trousers worn far to high... yet!

The catch of the day was a 12lb Snapper although mackerel, terakihi and gurnard were also biting. Look away now if you have a fish aversion...

Also on my heavenly wish list... fish and chips; on a beach, in newspaper on a bus or even on fine china with silver forks, as long as it's fresh, battered and there's malt vinegar and tartare sauce I'm a happy, happy camper, x

splash of colour week... 1

Bougainvillea by the pool...

Hurrah! I've managed to get this post in on time, correct day, relevant picture, the lot!

If you want to join in, although you'd have to go some to be as swotty as me, please bash the button or visit Emma at silverpebble (you can buy jewellery too... yum, yum, gobble, yum)